ToryDiary: BBC fails to screen Jeremy Paxman getting challenged by Boris Johnson on his own BBC salary
Owen Paterson MP on Platform: The preparations are well under way for an historic Conservative election campaign in Northern Ireland
Fifty things about David Cameron's Conservatives: The next generation of Conservative MPs cut their political teeth during the Thatcher revolution
Local government: Hammersmith and Fulham Council are protecting the vulnerable
Cllr Les Lawrence on Local government: We are sorting out Children's Social Care in Birmingham and I will not resign
George Osborne announced the biggest cuts in public spending for 30 years - Telegraph
Unions threaten industrial action if Tories slash Whitehall and freeze public sector pay - Daily Mail
Allister Heath: Relatively modest, long-term ideas were given exaggerated significance by many commentators "Yesterday’s proposals to trim spending are to be welcomed but amount to at best £7bn a year; yet the budget deficit this year could hit £200bn. Freezing public sector wages for those earning over £18,000 is a brave decision given the election is less than a year away; but it will save just £3.2bn in 2011. It goes no more than 1-2 per cent of the way towards eliminating the structural part of the deficit." - City AM
"The effects of these measures – grim though they are – are dwarfed by the scale of the budget deficit. Mr Osborne has announced plans to save £7bn per year by the end of the next parliament, with changes to the pension age – beginning in 2016 – eventually contributing up to £13bn. The budget deficit this year? £175bn." - FT leader
Well, we can't say the Tories didn't warn us - Daily Mail leader
The Independent: Osborne's tough message for Tory members"There was an injunction for Conservatives to ditch "lazy rhetoric that belittles those who are employed by the Government". He also disappointed insistent Tory tax cutters by pledging to retain the Government's planned new 50p rate of tax. These are welcome signs that Mr Osborne recognises that what the wider country wants from a future government in these difficult times is pragmatism and moderation, not ideology. Mr Osborne's stark warning to bankers not to return to wildly excessive remuneration also sent an important message that a future Tory government would not make the mistake of assuming that what is in the interests of the City is necessarily in the interests of Britain." - The Independent leader
"The one genuinely eye-catching new piece of news was that Mr Osborne plans to reverse Mr Brown's controversial and unpopular raid on pensions over time — although, again, no explanation of how this will be done was offered. Nor, incidentally, was it mentioned that Mr Brown, in abolishing the tax credit for pension funds, was beginning a process actually started by a Tory chancellor — Norman Lamont" - Ian King in The Times
> Yesterday's ConservativeHome verdict on the speech: Fourteen out of twenty
Ken Clarke proposes one in, one out system for cutting regulation "Kenneth Clarke would chair a “star chamber” cabinet committee to cut red tape as part of a Conservative plan to reduce the regulatory burden on business, the shadow business secretary announced on Tuesday. The star chamber would enforce a “one in – one out” requirement whereby any new law must include cuts in old laws which, together, produced a net 5 per cent reduction in the regulatory burden. Mr Clarke said a Tory government would apply a “sunset clause” to all regulators. All regulators and regulatory quangos would be reassessed and their duties reviewed during the firs t term." - FT
"Nuclear power, carbon capture and storage and offshore wind farms would be among the main beneficiaries of a Conservative government, the Tory party conference heard on Tuesday. Communities agreeing to host wind farms would be compensated by retaining the business rates they generated, and householders would be rewarded for taking energy efficiency measures." - FT
Stonewall chief pulls out of gay Conservative event in protest at David Cameron's 'homophobic' partners - PinkNews
"Skin-tight T-shirts, posters of semi-naked men and buckets of condoms on the tables. This was not a typical fringe event at the Conservative party conference. Last night, though, the Tories glammed up for “Conference Pride”, the party’s first official gay club night." - Times
David Davis is ready to return to frontbench "David Davis, who stunned the Conservative leadership last year by quitting as shadow Home Secretary, today signalled he wanted to return to the political frontline. He told a fringe meeting organised by The Independent that he would be prepared to accept a Cabinet post under David Cameron as long as it was “a proper job”"
The Tory Right has run out of puff - Julian Glover in The Guardian
David Cameron preparing to appoint record number of peers if Tories win - Times
Six Conservative MPs and MEPs take the More4 News Twit-box quickfire challenge at Conservative conference - up against the clock to answer questions sent in via Twitter - Channel 4
The Mirror attacks Cameron's 'champagne moment'"David Cameron quaffs £140-a-bottle bubbly with his rich chums just hours before the Tories announced a pay freeze for millions of ordinary workers" - Mirror
> Yesterday's ToryDiary: Cameron "caught" with champagne
The Tory leader's ambiguities reflect a deep crisis for British conservatism - Melanie Phillips in the Wall Street Journal
Why have MPs’ expenses disappeared from conference agendas? - Daniel Finkelstein in The Times
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